The Intelligent Robots Group has been a member of the DHS-NIST-ASTM International Standard Test Methods for Response Robots project since the Group’s inception in 2013.

Standard Test Methods are a vital component of any robotics development effort. They determine gaps in existing capabilities and serve as a communication tool between end users, researchers, manufacturers and governments. They enable rapid iterative development using statistically significant measures. They also enable the evaluation of the step-function improvements in capabilities resulting from development efforts.

Our focus is on the development of Standard Test Methods for Sensing and Perception, Mapping, Autonomy and Manipulation. External funding for this work comes from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). Over the last 4 years, the Group alone has received over $500k AUD in external research funding for this work.

The Group does not host test methods or perform testing at Curtin University. Rather, our expertise is in the selection, adaptation, development and deployment of standard test methods at collaborators’ facilities and events.

Permanent facilities where the Intelligent Robots Group has been instrumental in developing, setting up and administering these standard test methods include:

• The Robot Test Facility, Building 207 at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, US Department of Commerce, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA (just outside Washington DC).
• The Naraha Remote Technology Development Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Sector of Fukushima Research and Development, Naraha, Fukushima, Japan.
• The Western Australia Police Tactical Response Group Bomb Response Unit, Maylands, Western Australia.

For further details please visit the project’s website at NIST!